The Power of Infographics: Using Pictures to Communicate and Connect With Your Audiences (Fernando Lopez-Lezcano's Library)

A great starting point is to understand the fundamental purpose of infographics. At their core, infographics are a form of business communication, not fine art. Yes, they can be creative and aesthetically pleasing, but if they don’t help convey an idea, offer statistical insight, and so on, their artistic merit has no bearing.

Before introducing infographics into your content mix, your organization needs to be able to articulate the reasons for using visualization to communicate with your audiences.

Visual metaphors help enhance your content, making your information assets more noticeable while quickly enabling comprehension, particularly when it comes to more complex or intangible ideas and concepts. In addition, visual metaphors tend to add an emotional layer to content that text alone can’t deliver, prompting a greater likelihood of deeper exploration and sharing (see Figure 2.5).

Metaphors are also effective because they serve the practical purpose of making things easier to see and understand.

Based on the VARK6 model, people use four primary learning styles to process information:

• Visual—People learn by viewing graphic formats such as charts, maps, and diagrams instead of words.

• Auditory—People learn by listening to spoken words.

• Read/write—People learn by reading or writing words.

• Kinesthetic—People learn through experience (by doing).

Infographics provide an opportunity for your organization to add that element of novelty or uniqueness to your information and make it more noticeable to your audience.

Business information can be divided into the following groups:

• Statistics—metrics such as sales, revenue, market research, surveys

• Process—manufacturing, customer service, sales funnel, lead generation, supply chain

• Ideas—concepts, theories, thought leadership, ideology

• Chronology—history, order of events, timelines, schedules

• Geography—locations, metrics by region

• Anatomy—ingredients, components, lists

• Hierarchy—organizational structure, needs assessment

• Relationships—internal, external, people, products/services

• Personality—brand humanization, organizational culture

Writer and transmedia producer Tyler Weaver believes that most of us have the ability to doodle and draw. He suggests people get in their own way and prevent themselves from exploring infographics when they start judging their work as art instead of a tool.

“Visual thinking is about communication, not about hanging your work on the walls of the Louvre,” says Weaver. “If people start drawing something to demonstrate a point, and the first thing they think is ‘That sucks; that’s an awful drawing,’ they’re obviously not going to keep going.”1

Weaver urges people to stop overthinking the creative process and embrace drawing and doodling as a way to record and share their thoughts and ideas.

“Think like a kid, and don’t be afraid to color outside the lines,” says Weaver. “When you get an idea, grab a pencil and paper and draw it. If you make it simple and iconic, people will grab hold of it.”2

Weaver is not alone in his belief that all of us have an inherent ability to communicate visually

Compile a list of frequently asked questions from your website database or client services department

Stay connected with your human resources department to see what kinds of questions employees and job candidates are asking about your organization. This can be accomplished via something as simple as email inquiries or scheduled meetings with your human resources department